Binnur's Turkish Cookbook

TurkishCookbook.com - Delicious, healthy and easy-to-make Ottoman & Turkish recipes

Sunday, March 13, 2005

Ayran

Click to enlarge
3 cup plain Turkish yogurt
1/2 cup water
1 tsp salt

This is very straight-forward but tastes great: Put all of the above in a blender. Mix for about 35-40 seconds. Pour into glasses. Also after blending, at the top, you will see bubbles and that's the best part. Makes 4 portions.

Origins of the word "yogurt":
The word comes from the Turkish word "yoğurt", deriving from the verb "yoğurtmak", which means "to blend" - a reference to how yogurt is made.

Labels:


40 Comments:

At 6:27 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

The food on this website looks really really dilicious...i decided i'm going to show it to my mom so she can cook some of the food! :D thats really cool that you came up with these recipes on your own...very inventive...i look forward to trying these dishes :D

~Emily

 
At 1:45 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

hi, I really love turkish food, I BELIEVE YOU HAVE A GREAT BOOK HERE KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, ALSO A
MORE RECIPES OF NORTHERN TURKEY WILL BE APPRECIATED, THANKS,RAD

 
At 12:23 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

he said,"u make just how I like I'll never leave u my turkish wife", so he complimented.
I am not turkish but thanks to ur page I can cook like one.

 
At 5:48 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have read that sometimes mint leaves are added to the drink. Is this true? Also, what type of yoghurt is used in the preparation? Is it similar to greek yoghurt?

 
At 12:30 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi Alberto,
Yes you can add fresh mint leaves before blending ayran. Or simply
just add a pinch of dry mint. It is very refreshing:)
Also to make Ayran you should use plain Yogurt
http://www.turkishcookbook.com/2006/05/yogurt.php

 
At 11:51 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ayran is definitely one of my favorite drinks, next to plain water and coffee. In this recipe you use the American measures (cups), but as I'm from Sweden I would like to know the European measures for this. Thanks!!

 
At 10:03 AM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi Jennifer,
Ayran is one of my favourite drinks too:)
1 cup = 250 ml

 
At 11:51 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ayran is also one of my favorites but find the yogurt in the usa is just not the same. Any suggestions on brands that are similar to the turkish yogurt?

 
At 10:30 AM, Blogger Binnur said...

My daughter lives in Seatlle and she uses Mountain High Original Style
plain yogurt in navy packaging. Perhaps you'll be able to find that
one?

 
At 5:46 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

It took us a long time to find a yogurt that we like in the USA too. We have found that the best thing to do is read the ingredents. If it only has the most natural ingredents no starch or geletin... only milk, and live yogurt cultures it is the closest to turkish yogurt. The one we use is a generic store brand (Pathmark).

 
At 12:19 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I also add chopped cucumber in ayran with dry mint and use less yogurt. Its very refreshing in the hot summer days..

 
At 5:43 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

I am sure it is:) The possibilities are endless with yogurt....

 
At 11:30 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ayran is the best drink in the world I also loove yogurt you could put it on almost everything. =]

 
At 2:04 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Binnur,

Your site is wonderful and I think this recipe for Ayran is the essence of your style - pure and simple.

Every recipe I make is better than the next.

Thank you.

Gemma

 
At 12:21 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I didn't like the taste of it, this drink isn't for everyone.

 
At 4:48 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ayran is the best drink in the world, i could literaly live off it. The factory made ones i think taste the best. But this recipe comes close. Very good!

 
At 10:12 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi Sal,
Yes, it is...probably factory made ayran uses Turkish yogurt which has the best taste in the world:) If you used Turkish yogurt, your ayran would be better with this recipe:)

 
At 3:59 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

turkish food is the best of the world. i really love ayran because it makes you feel more happy and it has a unique taste.here is a message for most people of europe: drink more ayran and less coca cola

 
At 1:29 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Assalam u alaykum. Your blog looks great sis! : ) I can't wait to try all of them ;) InshaAllah very soon I'm gonna try some of your recipes. I am really glad to get here. Oh BTW do you know here, in Pakistan, Ayran is known as 'Lassi' a very popular and refreshing drink. Sometimes we use sugar instead of salt but I like the salt one best :)

Thank you so much for your yummy yummy recipes.

 
At 1:36 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I went to a Turkey restaurant last night with friends,and I loved their food and I drank Ayran for the 1st time (that is all I wanted to drink the whole night. "I am a pregnant mommy"), I loved it. I am going to try to make it at home.

 
At 5:31 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I also add cumin powder, it is so good and refreshing and the best thing is that you can make it with fat free yogurt!

 
At 1:28 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Merhaba! The food looks really delicious. I'm only 17 and very fascinated with the Turkish culture. I'm happy that i found this site now i could cook some turkish dishes yum!

 
At 2:01 PM, Blogger Misty said...

I was very skeptical when my Turkish friend wanted to make this, but it really made a nice finish to our meal. If you like plain yogurt, it's a must try.

 
At 7:29 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

use Russian yogurt,very similar to Turkish yogurt

 
At 11:49 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I just made this and it was absolutely delicious. I live in canada and I used store brand yogurt and it was delish....I used 2% yogurt but I will try fat free next time and see if it is as good. thank you!

 
At 12:10 AM, Anonymous Meatball Rob said...

I just returned from 2+ fantastic weeks in Turkey. We so enjoyed the food and as a "foody" I wanted to reproduce some of the dishes back home (in Vancouver, BC, Canada). Before we left I bought some meat ball spice at the Egyptian Bazaar in Istanbul. As soon as we got home we used your recipe for meatballs. What a major disappointment - they tasted nothing like the meatballs we had all through Turkey. They were salty and even the "meatball spice" diddn't help them. Can you let me know how to use the meatball spice to make my kofte taste like the ones I had all through Turkey?
Thanks very much,
Rob

 
At 5:03 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi Rob,
I've never used ready to use meatball spice to make kofte:) I've already posted the Turkish Hamburger recipe. Here is the address;
http://www.turkishcookbook.com/2005/06/turkish-hamburger.php

 
At 8:03 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Binnur,

I have just discovered this wonderful website. Being German, I am used to the wonderful Turkish food you can get everywhere, but now I've been living in the UK for 15 years - hardly any Turkish food at all and no ayran at all. I've just come back from a weekend in Antalya where my friend Elif got married and only one day back here, I already miss the wonderful Turkish food. Thank you so much for posting the recipes - I will now start cooking the food myself!!!

Rena

 
At 2:23 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I tried ayran in Istanbul and liked it very much. So refreshing. thank you for the recipe.

 
At 11:56 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I've been in Istanbul for the first time last week and I hope I'll visit this fascinating city again in future. Turkish people a very kind, polited and very helpfull and the food is great too. I've tried ayran for the first time during the dinner and I'll try to prepare ayran from your cookbook Binnur, thanks for recipe :)

 
At 9:17 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

thanks so much for posting this! i just made a glass using non-fat greek yogurt, and it tasted just like the ayran i had in turkey. i'll definitely be making more of this! :)

 
At 1:10 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Interesting. I am doing a unit in Geography on Turkey and i wanted to see what this tasted like. I was not dissappointed. But can someone tell me where you can find Turkish yogurt in Pennsylvania, near Kutztown? Thanx in advance

 
At 8:02 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

i like this very much:))

 
At 11:18 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

another useless recipe. what type of yoghurt am I supposed to use? greek? what fat content?

 
At 3:13 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

Simon,
If you find my recipes useless, I do not understand why you visit my site and ask questions.

 
At 5:18 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

i discovered this site lately and i found it excellent i watch tv series and always wondered what is that drink they always have now i can taste it too thank you

 
At 3:52 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Is sometimes milk added to ayran turkiyede? I mean shop style ayrans? because in my coutry we have Turkish Ayran made with pasteurised milk...but maybe it's normal in commercial drinks of this kind. Ellenize saglik, Natalie

 
At 6:50 PM, Blogger Binnur said...


No milk is added into home-made or commercial Ayran in Turkiye, Natalie:)

 
At 1:17 AM, Anonymous Maize said...

I use Dannon plain yoghurt for making ayran. It uses no extra ingredients or thickeners. I grew up drinking ayran because of my Bulgarian grandmother. I usually put a pinch of sugar, rather than salt, but only because it has been my custom. How do people feel Dannon compares to Turkish yoghurt?

 
At 9:19 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi Maize,
I use 'Elegant' Balkan Style yogurt when I don't have time to make my own yogurt. This brand is the closest to my home-country's yogurt without kaymak! I don't have any experience with Dannon but I don't think it's close to real yogurt, otherwise I would hear about it :)

 

Post a Comment

<< Home